Drowning in Icy Blue
by IMakeTheMonsters
Summary: She's chipping away at his frozen heart one mermaid statue at a time.


**_Hey, how have you been? Since my last upload of OLMAP was published, I've been working like crazy to get these stories up. This one's been sitting in my laptop's archive since October. Enjoy!_**

 **DISCLAIMER: MY NAME IS NOT HIRO MASHIMA, THEREFORE YOU STUPID COPYRIGHT PEOPLE TAKE A HINT.**

* * *

School always feels different at night. The sickeningly bright florescent lights and the smell of whiteboard markers are replaced by the darkness of closed doors and the echoing of your shoes tapping down the hallway. You tread softly, as if any sudden movements will teleport a teacher right in front of you with a detention slip in hand.

It's especially strange when you realize you don't belong there any more. As a graduate, Juvia feels out of place and awkward, which is strange considering she's only just received her diploma this morning. But she won't let this newfound strangeness stop her from finding what she's come for.

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

 _The bleachers are full of screaming fans, cheering for Fairy Tail High's beloved football team. Juvia can hear their echoed voices following her as she walks back inside, heading for the only place she won't hear the noise: the basement. She's a senior now, but she finds herself realising that she's never actually been down there before. Since every teacher, faculty member and student must be out in the stands right now (or so she assumes), she decides that there is no better time for her to explore. Heading resolutely down the stairs, she pauses as she hears a loud thud ring its way through the empty hallway. And another. She manages to trace the source of the noise back to what seems the be the art room at the end of the hall, and for some inexplicable reason, finds herself standing just inside the entrance, staring with her eyes as big as the full moon itself._

 _There is a mermaid, perched in the centre of the room, expression so serene and peaceful that for a moment, Juvia thinks she might be real. And then she realizes that it's just a sculpture formed out of ice, so flawless that it might as well be flesh and blood. The mermaid's hair tumbles from her shoulders in long waves and her face is every plastic surgeon's dream; but what really draws Juvia in is the intricate patterns on mermaid's tail and the tiny, perfect scales that must've taken weeks to complete. It's clear to her that, whoever has created this must be the one of most passionate human beings to ever walk the earth._

 _That's when she hears footsteps behind her. Startled, she whirls around — and the only things she can see are his eyes._

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

The pool is peaceful. The water is safe and inviting in the warm summer air, a silent mirror reflecting your actions in the dark. Juvia knows this, and that's why she stands at the edge of the deck, clad in only her swimsuit and a towel, ready to disappear into the open expanse of happiness. Because to Juvia, that's what it is. Water is the truth, clear and gentle and easy to understand. Water is the complete opposite of a certain man she knows who resembles of a shard of ice, made of murky replies and broken promises. Water will always be there for her, and Juvia is starting to understand that Gray Fullbuster will not.

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

 _She had never realized that he was an artist. She had known he was good with ice and hockey and such, and that he was Natsu's best friend and therefore Lucy's friend, but they had never really had a reason to talk. So it's understandable how surprised she is when she walks in on his latest creation. He, of course, is equally surprised to see her standing there, ogling what he deems a mediocre piece of junk._

 _In the months that follow, Juvia finds herself down there every day. It becomes sort of a routine to them: she sits on a stool beside him doing her homework while he chips away at whatever his latest creation is._

 _He's told her that there's no theme in his collection of artwork, but Juvia notices that his entire high school portfolio is made up entirely of mermaids. Always mermaids, no matter what the different styles and moods he's tried to follow are._

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

The towel crumples to the ground as she dives headfirst into the pool, stroking her arms cleanly across the surface. Flying faster and faster until she tastes salt in the chlorine-treated blue and realizes she's crying. She's sobbing her eyes out, floating helplessly in the middle of a deserted school at midnight. She cries so hard that after a while, it almost seems as if she's made of water, and the pool is just another extension of her body.

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

 _He won't tell her why the only thing he ever creates is a mermaid, no matter how many times she asks, or who. Every time she tries to guilt-trip Lucy into telling her, the blonde just waggles her eyebrows with a smirk and asks her what SHE thinks. She's so frustrated that she decides to give up on her quest for answers, trusting him to tell her when he decides the time is right. Besides, maybe he just likes mermaids._

 _The truth is like a knife to the heart; cold steel embedded in the only shreds of hope she had left. Sure, it's been nearly 9 months since they met and she had THOUGHT that he might've liked her back, but he has never made a single move to push them out of the friend zone. So why is she so devastated when she walks into the art room at precisely 4pm and finds the cutest girl she's ever seen sitting on a stool — HER stool — cooing over his latest piece and telling him just how much she loves mermaids? Squealing about how any girl would melt if he presented it to her; that she hadn't realized just how much of a romantic he is._

 _Juvia needs to get out of here. Her breathing is ragged and she feels like her whole heart is being torn out and stomped on before her very eyes. In her haste to make it out the doorway, she bumps into an easel in her left and sends it crashing to the ground. Two gorgeous heads whirl around to stare at her as she struggles to regain her balance. Looking up, she finds herself looking directly into the eyes of – Mavis, why – the one person she really does NOT want to talk to right now. But that moment of split-second eye contact is all it takes for him to see the hurt in her eyes; the tears threatening to spill over at any moment. And then she's gone, sprinting down the hallway as fast as she can, not turning back to see if he might be chasing after her. Because he's not. And she knows it._

 _She avoids him for the rest of the semester._

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

She's calmed down quite a bit; the water is soothing, and she finds she's spent the last hour pondering the existence of humans on the planet, and what it would've been like if dolphins had been the species to cultivate and take over the world. Would humans have been able to develop such an advanced thought process?

The squeak of wheels on the linoleum floor causes her to freeze. Her head shoots up in alarm and she sinks further down into the water. There couldn't possibly be a staff member in the building at 1am, especially when she so thoroughly checked the building earlier to make sure she wouldn't get caught.

Oh god. What if it was a murderer? The police would come in the next morning and find her dead, floating corpse facedown in the pool like that famous actress that OD'ed on drugs a few years back. The thought is obviously irrational, but it's late and Juvia's imagination is working overtime.

They're getting closer, and Juvia's starting to get really scared. Suddenly, the creaking stops, and the giant double doors of the pool room fly open with a dramatic WHOOSH, revealing the terrifying silhouette of a — mermaid?

From just behind the mermaid emerges Gray Fullbuster with a dangerous look in his eye that she's never seen before. He marches towards her with purpose, grabs hold of her under the armpits and hauls her out of the water (she mentally slaps herself when she realizes she's ogling the way his muscles are flexing in the dim light) and drags her around the edge of the pool to stand directly in front of the statue.

"Wha–"

"That's you." He states, staring at her with such intensity she can feel her whole face going red.

"Huh?"

"That's you. You're the mermaid. That last statue that you saw was supposed to be for you."

She stares at him incredulously for a moment, and then the blood comes rushing back into her burning face and it's all she can do to stutter, "H-how the hell am I a mermaid?!"

He sighs. "Remember the day we first met? It was during our first year of high school. Lucy dragged me and Natsu to one of your swim meets, and I remember being really bored. What's the point of watching a bunch of teenage girls compete in a swimming match if the only thing they're concerned about is how hot they look in a bathing suit? The school ones are totally unflattering anyways."

He's rambling nervously, and Juvia's beginning to wonder if he's ever actually going to get to the point.

"But then you came out. You weren't even trying, and you looked a hundred times more beautiful than any of the other girls out there. And when the whistle blew, the only thing you were thinking about was the water. You looked so graceful, it was just like I was looking at a real live mermaid.

After that, I never wanted to create anything else."

She can barely think over the sound of blood pounding in her ears. "But that girl —"

"She was just a friend that I had asked for help when I was trying to work up the nerve to confess to YOU."

She can't help it. This whole misunderstanding is so absolutely stupid that she bursts out laughing, doubling over as she gaps for air. He stares at her like she's crazy, but then the corner of his mouth is twitching and suddenly he's laughing too, and the two of them are just left cackling like hyenas in between a pool and an ice statue in a dark school at 1:30 in the morning.

When they finally catch their breath, they find themselves eyeing each other, locked in a silent battle of wills, until his shoulders slump and he caves at last. He reaches out and wraps his arms around her waist, drawing her close. By some mutual agreement they dip their heads at the same time, and after 4 years of sexual tension and heartbreak, their lips finally meet. And it's worth it. It's so absolutely worth it that neither party is complaining about the time wasted, instead leaning into the kiss and moulding their bodies together until they're just a tangle of frozen heat and frantic limbs, and it becomes impossible to tell where he stops and she begins.

She's drowning in him, but somehow she's never felt more alive.

* * *

 _ **So how was it? Gruvia is one of my absolute OTPs (maybe even more than Nalu, but don't kill me because I still love them too dw) and I was really excited to write about it. You guys are gonna see alot more of them in the future. Anyways, drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime! You guys make me love to write even more than I already do.**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 ** _Tiffany, out._**


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